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Saturday, June 20, 2015

By Sean ClaesOnce again the parking lot of San
Antonio’s AT&T Center will be the home of the misfits, the rockers, the
metal lovers and kids of all ages that want to see a spectacle of rock, metal, hip-hop and power pop. Why? Because on June 28, The Vans Warped Tour will
pull into town and throw down another 30+ band extravaganza and they won’t
leave until every last fan has had an earful.

INsite has decided to shine the light
on 5 of the performers on this year’s tour. These are bands we think you need
to make sue to catch, so sit back and enjoy our 5 Bands To Look For At San
Antonio’s Vans Warped Tour.

1. Asking
Alexandria

Moving forward after their original
lead vocalist Danny Worsnop announced his departure from the band in January, Engligh
Metalcore band Asking Alexandria is coming in strong with new lead singer Denis
Stoff (Make Me Famous) and a new song “I Won’t Give Up” (video posted here).

Denis has some big shoes to fill, and
if he can handle the corwds at Warped, he will do just fine. It’ll be
interesting to see the new dynamic and I, for one, intend on catching their
set.

2. Beartooth

@ Warped Tour 2014. Photo by Sean Claes

I caught Ohio’s Beartooth by accident
last year at Warped and they are one of the bands that stood out to me. The band was formed as a side project for
vocalist Caleb Shomo when he was in the band Attack! Attack! But when that
group called it quits in 2012, Beartooth got brought to the forefront.

The last year has been good for
Beartooth. They were nominated for a “Golden God” for best new band and been
riding high off their debut release, 2014’s Disgusting.
In April they released the single “In Between” off that album.

3. Family
Force 5

Courtesy Photo

A Christian band from Atlanta, Family
Force 5 has been around for over 10 years now. I admit, I learned of them from
their fantastic “Family Force 5 Really Real Show #12” where they visited Flea
Market Montgomery (watch it here.).

A little fun at Warped Tour is a good
thing… this electronica/pop/dance band might just be the time-out you need
after taking a few metalcore pills earlier in the day. Besides, how can you NOT have fun when the
band members include dudes with names like “Crouton, Fatty and Chap Stique?”

Here’s the video for their new single
“Sweep The Leg” which begs the question, which came first LMFAO or Family Force
5? (The answer to that question is playing Warped Tour).

4. Memphis
May Fire

Courtesy Photo

From the great state of Texas, Memphis
May Fire has been at it for 4 albums and almost 10 years.

This is some straight up brutal metal
with punishing drums. Sure, you’e going to get your share of scream + clean
vocal metalcore bands in Warped this year, but this is one that has stood the
test of time and is worth making it through the crowds to catch.

Their 2014 release Unconditional made it to the #4 slot on Billboard when it debuted
in March. They plan to release a deluxe version of Unconditional in July.

Here’s their latest release “Sleepless Nights”

5. We
Came As Romans

Photo by Sean Claes

Another of my Warped Tour finds. I
caught this Michigan-based band when they played Warped in 2013 and their high
energy set drew me in (and as you can see from the photo, vocalist Dave
Stephens connected with the crowd as well).

They’ve been around for a decade and,
in July, will release their fourth and self-titled album. As an interesting aside, former INsite movie
editor Cole Dabney directed a few of their videos in 2011-2012.

Check out “Regenerate” from their
soon-to-be-released album… then check them out
next Sunday at Warped.

Granted, these are just five of the bands we think you should see... other bands playing that are shoe-ins to be awesome include Black Veil Brides, Escape The Fate, Matchbook Romance, Riff Raff and While She Sleeps. The entire Line-up for San Antonio's Warped Tour can be found on the official site - here.